Tag: beef

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I did it again. I made a freezer recipe and lost the original. This one was Barcoa Beef, based on a Chipotle recipe. I really need to figure out where these recipes are saving themselves. I checked both the work and home Ipads, favorites, Pinterest, and bookmarks. Nowhere to be found. I did remember to take pictures though.

1- Barcoa Beef

It was pretty good. Nice and spicy. The rice helped cool it off spice wise. We might try it as a taco filling.

We had soup and grilled cheese and some leftovers as well.

2- Stuffed Italian Meatballs from a Food Network insert.

I stuffed them with marinated mozzarella balls. We had them with a homemade marina sauce, garlic bread, and noodles.  They were very good! I would make these again.

3- Basic Corn Muffins from Pillsbury Best Muffins and Quick Breads. Section: Savory Muffins

No pics, I froze them right away. They were good. I didn’t have canned corn, so left it out.

Now for the good stuff! My cookie progress.

I’ve made many cookie recipes. My list so far is 4 cookies from the December 2017 issue of Food Network, and 5 from other sources. I kept running out of things like brown sugar and chocolate chips. I wasn’t completely prepared for this marathon.

Here’s the ones from the December 2017 Food Network.

4- Peppermint Sugar Cookies- from the insert.

Delicious! So crispy and soft in the middle. Light peppermint flavor, not overpowering. They have been added to my party list.

5- Chocolate Shortbread

A little dry for my taste. They dough was a dream to work with.  I normally hate cutout doughs, but this was nice and smooth. I don’t think I have a set of Christmas cutters, so hedgehogs and snails it was.

6- Hibiscus Ginger Cookies.

Fresh ginger hurts on dry hands and I’m a little bitter that it didn’t just call for bottled ginger juice. They were alright, very lightly flavored. Kind of a cross between a snowball and a shortbread.

7-Crispy Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These smelled like heaven.  It called for browning the butter before adding it in. I wanted to lick the pan. I forgot to take a picture before sending them with the Husband for work.

The other 5 recipes I’ll talk about on Monday. I have a very playful puppy leaping on my Ipad. Apparently it’s playtime. 🙂

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Since I will be dancing my heart out this weekend, I thought I would post my recipes early. 🙂 We had a lovely brunch with Kayla on Sunday and I made a Quiche recipe that I actually liked! Typically, I’m not a fan of baked eggs, but this was very good and even better on the second day.  I also made a new freezer recipe, for which I cannot find the recipe and a new pork recipe for the Husband.

I’ll start with the food I can’t find the recipe for.

1- On the freezer bag, it’s called “Hungarian Beef Stew.” It specifically called for mini peppers and had caraway seeds in it. Betty Crocker has a similar slow cooker recipe, but it doesn’t have all the ingredients.

I believe I used a slow cooker recipe and just prepped it to freeze, but don’t remember. I cooked it for about 7 hours in the slow cooker. I liked it. The meat was very tender. The Husband thought it had a strange taste, most likely the caraway seed. I probably won’t make it again.

2- Quiche Lorraine from Bacon 24/Seven by Theresa Gilliam

This was delicious! I had one less egg than I needed, so I added more cheese. I used smoked Gouda. I also made it crustless.

We had it with a salad and some yummy almond flour muffins that Kayla brought. The Husband loved it! He requested it again on a future weekend.

3- Baked Pork Chops and Rice from Baked at Midnite. https://bakeatmidnite.com/baked-pork-chops-on-rice/

The Husband said he liked this. I need to find different ways to cook them, but there don’t seem to be too many different ways that don’t require searing or stove top, neither of which the Husband is comfortable doing on his own. We’re going to try having him do that when I’m home.

4- Sautéed Spinach and veggies, method by me.

I sautéed sliced garlic, mushrooms, garden tomatoes, and spinach in some olive oil, salt and pepper. It was delicious. The Husband doesn’t eat spinach, so I didn’t even have to share! We ate it with smoky paprika turkey tenderloins and boiled carrots with butter.

It was a pretty good week for new recipes. The Husband has some leftovers for the weekend, but also has the play, so he’ll be on a weird eating schedule.

I made some tea blends for Ooky to go with my tea wallets too. There’s three green tea blends, and three black teas. They are in cute little 4 oz. Mason jars.

Wish me lots of sales this weekend! I know the dance part will be a ton of fun already!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I had to wait to post for two reasons. The Husband was gone for most of the night yesterday with his play and Fancy was sprawled across my lap, not letting me up. Also, I had only tried one new recipe! I was horrified and decided I needed to try at least one more before I posted.

I had a bunch of late nights this week and the Husband was at practice, so I had frozen chili and microwave soup, while he had pork one night and leftovers or a frozen meal the rest of the nights.

Here’s Fancy, judging me for the lack of meal planning and homemade dinners… (I’m pretty sure it was actually her judging me for stopping the pets to take the picture.)

Here are the couple of recipes I made:

1- Grilled Cuban Flank Steak from Kayln’s Kitchen.
https://kalynskitchen.com/cuban-flank-steak-recipe/

This was pretty good! It marinated while I was at work and we broiled it on Tuesday. It got dark a little too quick to grill. The Husband had a salad, I had buttery garlic green beans. I also had a pear.

2- Banana Carrot Dog Treats.

http://homemadedogtreatsnow.com/banana-carrot/?utm_content=bufferead83&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

I had a banana to use and since we are still keeping Fancy off chicken, she needed more treats. She was less than enthused about the fish biscuits I found at the store, so I decided to go with things I knew she liked. She does not like bananas plain, but loves carrots.

I just got my bone shaped cookie cutters in the mail. This is the smallest cutter. I figured if I was going to be the crazy lady who bakes for her dog, I may as well have the cute shapes. I subbed rye flour for the whole wheat flour. The dough is very wet and looks like it won’t hold together, but it actually did. Fancy seems to enjoy them.

3- Chocolate Chip Bars from The Wooden Spoon Cookbook by Miriam Miller. Section: Cakes and Cookies

This is for my father-in-law. It’s his birthday today, so I thought he could use a giant cookie. 🙂 I added vanilla to the batter and used M&Ms too. We haven’t eaten it yet, but it smells good. We are planning to eat it with ice cream.

I made another batch of yogurt and have found the perfect ratios for me, so I thought I would share my secrets. It’s the recipe from the instruction manual for my yogurt maker, so it’s not a new one, but it works very well. The yogurt maker was a terrific investment.

I’ve been making just plain yogurt and then typically adding jam, mini chocolate chips or coconut flakes, and some type of nut. This bowl has my homemade strawberry marmalade and walnuts. Mmmm….

Here’s what I do. Heat 5 1/4 cups milk to 180 over low to medium heat. (It’s not supposed to boil, but I swear it waits for me to look away and then explodes, so it has typically boiled.) Turn off the heat and let it cool to 95. Then I add 10 T of dried milk powder to the mix along with the starter yogurt and whisk it until smooth. Pour the mix into my little jars and put the machine cap on. 8-10 hours later, I have beautiful, firm yogurt to eat. It almost has the texture of greek yogurt.

One of these times I will try making it with jam, but I like the freedom of having plain yogurt. I got through the mix in about a week and save one jar for a starter. I’ve not seen a difference using homemade yogurt or storebought as a starter. It’s definitely saving us a bunch of money, considering what I was spending on yogurt per week.

I have plans to make dinners in the crockpot over night in the next week. I just made three beef freezer meals and have plans for three chicken ones, plus the omes we had already. The Husband’s play opens this coming week, so he will need lunch and dinner at work. I want to try some more veggie meals for me too. If I make the dinners overnight, we can both have it for lunch and then he can figure out a second meal.

Well, it’s time to head out to deliver the cookie! Hopefully he likes it!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Fancy, the Husband, and I are tuckered out. We went on a grand adventure today to our college’s homecoming. We took Fancy with us and discovered that she can be in the car with just the car harness belted in and not in her crate for about 2 hours. We had the crate with us in case, but it’s nice to know that we can do that.

We all had a great time! It was a little weird being back on campus and realizing I graduated 10 years ago. Gosh, I’m getting old.

Some things we discovered during the parade: Fancy does not like drums, is unsure of bagpipes, and would very, very much like to eat the cheerleaders’ pom-poms. She’s currently snoring on her blanket after meeting several new dogs and a very many new people. She was quite the attention getter and is now an honorary Phi Mu Alpha (The Husband’s fraternity) house dog. 🙂

Because it was homecoming, I made one of our college’s famous foods, Highland Chicken. It figures, the only school spirit I have comes out in food… Of course, I improved it a little.

1- Highland Chicken, recipe by me. Absolutely no measurements, sorry!

Saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil until tender. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. Add half a brick of cream cheese. Cook until melted. Roll out puff pastry and cut into 6 squares. Divide mixture between puff pastries, twist corners into center. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

It was good and brought back a bunch of good college memories. 🙂

We used left over chicken from the next recipe to make the Highland Chicken.

2- Roast Chicken With Herb Butter from In the Heat of the Kitchen by Gordon Ramsey. Section: Poultry and Game Birds. 

I was brave and popped the legs off as suggested and roasted them separately. I didn’t get this one too badly  off, although I forgot to make carrots to go with it and we had salad instead.

3- Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing from The Comfort of Cooking. http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2010/02/old-fashioned-bread-stuffing.html

This was good. A little dry for the Husband. I normally don’t like stuffing, but it was good.

4- BBQ Beef Ribs, by me!

I threw some boneless beef ribs and homemade BBQ sauce in the crockpot with some garlic cloves and cooked it for 7 hours. We had it twice. The picture is from the second time when we had mashed potatoes and carrots. The Husband had it with a salad the first time.

We managed to have a few new recipes in the past week, even being busy. The Husband starts being at play rehearsals more this month to figure out the production side of things, so our meal schedule may be a bit crazy.

Now if you’ll excuse me, Fancy is currently making this face at me to try to get me to play. 🙂 Stay tuned for my monthly report tomorrow!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Since I had my review on Friday, I wasn’t able to post a Recipe Roundup.

We had quite a busy weekend, but I did finally manage to get some freezer meals packaged. I used the Freezer Meals cookbook that a friend gave me.  We have 8 meals that can be thrown in the crockpot or oven for quick easy dinners. I made one of each recipe, except the fajitas, to try them. Once we know if we like them, I can make up some more.

So, on to the recipes:

1- Belgian Waffles from A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook by Louise Stoltzfus and Dawn J. Ranck. Section: Breakfast Foods. 

Modifications: I added vanilla Chai protein powder for some of the flour. You couldn’t taste it at all and it probably only added a few grams of protein, but any little bit helps. They were good.

2- Creamy Pappardelle with Broccoli from Good Eating Pasta. Section: Vegetarian. 

Modifications: I really only used the sauce part of the recipe. I threw in mushrooms and used corkscrew pasta. I also used a shredded 5 cheese Italian blend instead of just mozzarella. If you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend a pinch of nutmeg in cheese sauces. I was skeptical, but most of the creamy pasta sauces have it listed and it is fabulous. We would eat this again. It was quick and didn’t require thawing meat.

3- Tacos, method by me. I always half cook the meat, drain and rinse it, and then add about half a jar of salsa, cumin seed, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Throw it on a tortilla with some lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes and you have a delicious dinner.

4- Coldstone Sweet Cream Ice Cream from Cooking Classy. http://www.cookingclassy.com/cold-stone-creamery-sweet-cream-ice-cream-make-it-at-home/

Modifications: None! This recipe uses corn syrup and cornstarch, no eggs. It may turn into my go to vanilla recipe. It was very good. It froze a lot harder than the other ice cream we have had and didn’t melt as quickly. I did add vanilla extract, as it was a pretty plain base.

5- Creamy Coconut Popsicles from Little Spice Jar. http://littlespicejar.com/coconut-popsicles-paletas-de-coco/

Modifications: This made a lot more than I thought it would. Next time, I will halve the recipe. It made 14 popsicles and a ramekin of ice cream left over. They are very good. The Husband doesn’t like coconut, so I don’t have to share! Well, with him at least. I’ll share with other people. I finally used our rocket shaped popsicle molds. (TJ Maxx and they fell under the “$10 or under” clause… Or I’m really just a 6 year old at heart.)

I also made tortellini soup and we had canned soup and biscuits this week as well. I made yogurt again too and it is nice and thick this time.

For not feeling so good for part of the week, I am happy with how our meals turned out last week.

This week is a weird week. I’ve got late nights three days this week and we are going to a concert on Wednesday. Our 5th Anniversary falls on one of my late nights, so we’re going out to eat on Friday instead.

We’re having a party on Saturday and there will be a pickle tray and possibly two cakes… I took Friday off specifically to cook and bake. I’ve got a bunch of new recipes planned for the party, so it will probably have its own post. Now all we need is people to come eat all the food!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It always seems like vacation cannot last long enough and there is so much to catch up on. I didn’t cook at all on our trip. I had intended to, but wasn’t able to pick a recipe and then vacation naps happened. 🙂 Both my parents are excellent cooks too, so we were happy to sit back and just enjoy the delicious food.

Here is the Recipe Roundup for last week. Sorry for the delay. I used three new cookbooks!

1- Grilled Greek Chicken and Beans (Zucchini) from Food Network Magazine, June 2017, V. 10, N. 5

Modifications: My friend helped with this recipe and the shrimp and it was delicious. The chicken was very flavorful. We used zucchini instead of beans and I would have used the dipping sauce as a marinade instead. It wasn’t as flavorful as it could be. I would make the chicken again, but not the veggies.

2- Foil Packet Lemon Shrimp Scampi from Food Network Magazine, July/Aug 2017, V. 10, N. 6

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! It turned out delicious and the shrimp seemed to be cooked perfectly. I would happily make this again.

3- Gold Beach Burgers from Retro Beach Bash by Linda Everett. This book doesn’t really have organized sections per say.

Modifications: I looked up Teriyaki sauce ingredients and just added them into the meat, instead of making a full sauce. It worked pretty well. The burgers were so good! We had Gouda cheese on them. I would definitely make these again. It was a nice change from traditional burgers.

4- Oreo Ice Cream from Sober Julie. http://www.soberjulie.com/2013/06/ice-cream-recipe/

Modifications: I had half and half, so I used that along with the cream. I like custard based ice cream better so far, but the Husband liked it. It tastes okay, but it melted really fast and was a little icy.

5- Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms, recipe by me! (I have no actual measurements…)

Recipe: Add 4 drumsticks to a pan, drizzle with olive oil. I used garlic olive oil. Chop two garlic cloves and add them to the pan along with a quarter of an onion, mushrooms, and handful of cherry tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and onion powder. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 ish minutes, or until juices run clear.

This was a nice simple meal. The Husband threw it in the oven and we ate it separately.

6- Pickles from The Art of Preserving. Section: Pickles and Relishes.

Modifications: Absolutely none. I don’t mess with canning recipes at all, especially ones I haven’t made before. We brought a jar of these for my Mom and tried them up there. I hope they even out in terms of flavor. They were a little harsh in the vinegar department and were a little soft. I will try another pickle recipe, I think.

I was happy that I managed, with some help, to use a bunch of new recipes, even though we were going to be out of town.

Fancy is currently chasing a sky raisin, otherwise known as a fly. It’s hilarious to watch, but she’s all upset about it. She’s also trying to climb the couch to get a moth. It could be a long night.

I’m currently enjoying watching all the sharks I can handle on Shark Week. I think I’ll look up a red colored cocktail and serve it in my shark glass some time during the week.

I’m excited to show you some of the pictures I took over the weekend and get back into my regular posting routine.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Fancy didn’t want me to go to work this morning. She was whining at the bedroom door to say hello and then refused to come in later when I had to leave again. That’s her in the bush, being snotty and stubborn this afternoon.

I went all out on recipes this week. I must be feeling less stressed than I thought. I made two recipes in one day, and two in one meal! Now of course, all I want is a nap.

Here are the recipes.

1- Basic Chocolate Ice Cream from Ashlee Marie. http://ashleemarie.com/basic-chocolate-ice-cream-recipe/

Modifications: I’m not comfortable enough changing ice cream bases around, but it’s definitely something I would like to do. Almost every ice cream recipe on her site is something that I would like to try. I made two of her recipes between last weekend and today and they were both excellent. This chocolate ice cream was smooth and not too sweet. The Husband enjoyed it too. I had mine with strawberry slices, and with melted peanut butter on another day. The Husband likes plainer chocolate ice cream, so had chocolate chips both times. It made a little under a quart, I think.

2- Coconut Meringues from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Cookies and Bars

Modifications: I tripled the recipe, since I had triple the egg whites from the ice cream. I tried to go all fancy and pipe it, but the coconut clogged the nozzle repeatedly and I ended up just dropping them on the pan instead. Some of them were a little under baked, I think, but they were okay. They aren’t my favorite cookie, but it was a good way to use up egg whites. I sent them into the Husband’s work and ended up confusing a lot of people who didn’t know what they were. 🙂

3- Korean BBQ Short Ribs from The Seasoned Traveler. https://theseasonedtraveler.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/korean-bbq-short-ribs/ 

Modifications: This one was the Husband’s request. We found a good deal on boneless beef ribs at Costco. Since they were boneless ribs, I kept a close eye on them for cooko g time. I had run out of brown sugar and used molasses and some white sugar to substitute. I boiled down the rest of the cooking juices and marinade for a sauce. It was extremely salty. I didn’t eat any additional sauce, but the Husband did. I made myself roasted Parmesan Brussels sprouts, but they were not ready at the same time for pictures. They were tasty though.

4- Jasmine Cilantro Rice, method by me. I added bruised garlic cloves, cilantro, butter, and salt to the rice while it was cooking. It was good, had a nice light flavor, but added to the dish.

5- Garlicky Oven Fried Chicken Thighs (Drumsticks) from Party Food. Section: Main Dishes (We got this from a Goodwill store, it looks like it was originally from a Kohl’s Cares promotion.)

Modifications: I used drumsticks instead of thighs, because it was what we had. I used the Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash seasoning in the breading. These were okay. They were good for an easy dinner, but we weren’t happy with the level of flavor. We had fruit and a new recipe for potatoes with it.

6- Easy Roasted Potatoes from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. Section: Fruits and Vegetables.

Modifications: I quartered the potatoes instead of halving them. I used a bit more paprika than what it called for and completely forgot to salt and pepper them. We just added those after. These were good. I normally forget how long it takes potatoes to roast, so it was nice to have a reminder of timing. I’m working on getting everything to the table on time.

7- Blueberry Muffins from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. Section: The Best of Susan.

Modifications: This section of the cookbook is designed to be a “how to cook section,” I think. It has all sorts of tips about cooking and other housewifery for women on their own, or newlyweds.

I used butter, not shortening, for these. I also added a little sugar to the batter instead of only on top. Vanilla was also an addition. I thought it would be too plain without it. They were your basic muffin, but good.

8- Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream from Ashlee Marie. http://ashleemarie.com/marshmallow-ice-cream-recipe/

Modifications: None. It looks like a giant marshmallow in the bowl. It’s shiny!

It is delicious. The base was very pudding like after being in the fridge overnight. The gelatin in the marshmallows probably makes it too firm. I also had half and half for another recipe, so subbed that for the milk. I would have eaten the base as marshmallow pudding too. The Husband isn’t a huge marshmallow fan, so this is not his favorite. He said it was too sweet. It is incredibly smooth and rich.

I made the base before going to bed so that I could churn it before work the next morning and some of it may have found its way into my mouth for breakfast… I was broiling marshmallows at 11 pm and the kitchen was a huge sticky mess. Fancy was very concerned that the marshmallows were going to eat me and kept trying to “help” me clean up. I didn’t have a chance to take pictures of the marshmallows after broiling, but they were so pretty!

I made a s’mores bowl with it last night with milk chocolate chips and graham cracker crumbs. Mmmm… it was delicious.

Tonight we are having leftover French Onion Soup and tomorrow we’re supposed to pull out the grill for a new burger recipe. So far it isn’t supposed to rain!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I took lots of pictures this week and the Husband helped too! I took a few different shots to see what looked good, so you’ll have to tell me which ones you liked best.

1- Salted Caramel Gelato from KitchenAid. I bought it along with the mixer attachment. https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kitchenaid-reg-2-pack-fanzese-gelato-salted-caramel-mix/1047357136?Keyword=Salted+caramel+gelato

Modifications: None. It was my first time using the attachment, so I didn’t deviate from the instructions at all. We just added the milk and made it up. It was extremely fun and made us feel ever so fancy. We froze it for a few more hours to make it more of a harder texture, but it was still nice and soft. We ate it with mini chocolate chips. Fancy was very sad that she couldn’t eat it.

The Husband helped me take pictures, as it is impossible to pour the gelato mix into the mixer and take a picture.

It was definitely a hit and I have a bunch more recipes pinned on the blog’s Pinterest page. The Husband has requested a rich vanilla ice cream next, because we can put all sorts of toppings on it. I want to try a basil  ice cream recipe that I found as well. It looks very interesting and I bet it would be good if I used the lime basil too.

2- Mongolian Ginger Beef Freezer Meal from Freezer Meals: 365 Days of Quick and Easy Make Ahead Meals for Busy Families by Julianna Sweeny. Section: Beef Freezer Meals

Modifications: I added a little bit more water to the crock pot and added white pepper as well. I also used chuck steak instead of flank. We couldn’t find flank or skirt steak and it was going to be cooking for a long time in the slow cooker.

It was delicious! My first thought when I took a bite was “oh my gosh, this is melting.” The meat was so tender! I thickened the sauce more at the end, as it was a bit watery. I might make a double recipe of this, it seemed like it wasn’t going to make a lot. I will definitely make this again. The recipe includes directions to freeze the meal and then make it in the slow cooker, but we cooked it right away this time. This book was a birthday present from a friend and it will be put to good use.

3- Freezer Spicy Enchilada Soup from the above cookbook. Section: Chicken

Modifications: I added garlic and garlic powder, because who makes a recipe for an enchilada soup with no garlic? I used diced tomatoes instead of crushed, because it was what I had, and I didn’t crush the bay leaf. I just left it whole and then fished it out at the end.

This was another slow cooker recipe and it cooks for 8 hours, so was perfect for my long day on Monday. It was also delicious.

I did notice a few odd things about the cookbook. One, there are page numbers in the index, but no page numbers on the actual pages, which makes it a little confusing to find things. Two, there seem to be some repeat recipes with different names and slightly different instructions, but the same ingredients. The beef recipe has a twin about 10 pages in front if it that just has differently worded instructions, but that mean the same thing.

Overall, I really like the cookbook and will probably break my rule about one recipe per section, mostly for the sheer simplicity of it. We are in desperate need of meals that go in the crockpot, or can just be put in the oven by the Husband too and this book has plenty.

4- Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup from Our Best Bites. http://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/tortellini-sausage-soup/

Modifications: First off, I finally made the soup! I had only been talking about for weeks and it somehow never got made. I don’t use the recipe anymore, just kind of throw things in, but the one thing I do not ever leave out is the apple juice. The recipe says it is not the same without it and they are totally right.

I put this in the crockpot before I left for work, made the tortellini when I came home and then added them in. The spices cooked off a little and it wasn’t as flavorful, so I think I will stick to the stovetop for this.

5- Thin and Lacy Pancakes from Food Network Magazine: The Big Breakfast Issue, April 2015. V. 8, N.3.

Modifications: None! I love crepes. I cooked down frozen strawberries and peaches to make a sauce.  I completely forgot about the vanilla yogurt in the fridge, which was perfect the next morning for breakfast as a topper. I actually made these for dinner on Tuesday, as I was feeling rather horrible and wanted something gentle for my stomach. (Apparently stress is bad for you. My doctor told me I should stop having so much of it… Thanks, I guess?)

I didn’t have to share any of them either, as the Husband doesn’t like them. I also played around with the picture and was pretty pleased. Maybe a lighter color plate might be nicer next time.

6- Leg of Lamb from A Taste of Lebanon by Mary Salloum. Section: Entrees. 

Modifications: This was a circus. A full circus with clowns, tigers, and bears. I thought it was only a pound and a half of boneless leg of lamb, but apparently it was 2.38 pounds, which meant it was nowhere near cooked when I had said it should be cooked. The Husband, who was cooking it for us was extremely distressed and I had clients, so couldn’t tell him to do anything until later in the night. It did work itself out, he found the package and had the recipe, so figured it out. By the time I got home, it just needed a few more minutes. Recipes that have a set time to bake seem to be a better idea.

I used Lamb Seasoning from Penzey’s Spices. It has allspice, ginger, oregano, pepper, cumin, and something else that I can’t remember. The recipe called for allspice, salt, pepper, and 6-8 cloves of garlic. The garlic was sliced and stuffed into slits in the meat. It made the lamb delicious and it wasn’t overcooked at all. I highly recommend any Penzey’s spice. My brother and sister-in-law gave us some spices from them several years ago and they were all wonderful. Plus, Penzey’s is currently supporting various peaceful protests and attempting to spread kindness through food, which I highly approve of.

7- Wheat Free Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats from Doggy Dessert Chef.

http://doggydessertchef.com/2011/11/08/wheat-free-peanut-butter-pumpkin/

Fancy is undeniably a spoiled pup. Lately, she has been waking me up for morning snuggles when the Husband leaves for work and now thinks she can sleep on the bed whenever she wants! Silly puppers. I really should snuggle her on the couch, but it’s normally half an hour before my alarm goes off and it seems like a lot of work to get up and move.

Modifications: I used Chickpea flour for this recipe instead of brown rice flour, since it was all I had. They smell funny, but she seems to like them. I’m still on the hunt for a hard biscuit recipe for her, but can’t seem to find one that bakes up hard. I’ve got a few more to try. This was her, waiting patiently for her treats.

I don’t remember making homemade things for your dogs being a thing in the past. I know our dogs when I was a kid got table scraps and vaguely remember giving them treats, but certainly never actually making stuff for them. I tend to go nuts when buying her treats though, so as long as I make ones with things we have on hand, it might be cheaper. I just can’t resist when I think she might like something. Plus, I bake for everyone else, so why should she be any different?

8- Spicy Beef from Wok and Stir-Fry. Section: Poultry and Meat. 

Modifications: I am not supposed to eat spicy foods for at least two weeks thanks to my stomach being dumb, so I left out the spicy part. I also really only used the recipe for the sauce recipe, as I have trouble with proportions when making stir-fry sauces. The recipe doesn’t call for any veggies, just scallions. I added red pepper, broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms. I cooked the separately and used already seasoned beef left over from kebabs at a friend’s house that we had frozen. It turned out really good.

Reenergized by my sad review last week, I made a lot of new recipes. Now I just have to remember that feeling in the next few weeks, so my next review is full of new things. I also need to realize that my new recipes can also be breakfast, side dishes, or lunch dishes, they don’t always have to be dinner. I’ve used a lot of the entree sections of cookbooks and need to look for sides to go with my familiar dishes as well.

I’ll leave you with those thoughts and a picture of Fancy with her new favorite toy. We now get our cardio by playing tug with her. She has an amazing grip and gets so excited while playing. She likes playing tug with the Husband more, because he’s a little rougher with her. She’ll go bark at him until, he comes out of his office and plays with her. Last night she did that four times. She just couldn’t get enough playtime. Hopefully, you all have something that makes you as happy as she gets with her toy.

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I used two new cookbooks this week and got a new one as a birthday present from a friend. The new one is freezer recipes and will be fantastic for my late nights at work.

We also had spaghetti and the Husband cooked some pork chops that, sadly, turned out to be not so good. I hadn’t marinated them this time, just added some dry spices and olive oil. They were actually thawed this time too and I think it made them dry.

I made a chicken that we ended up using in three different meals and I used the carcass to make chicken broth! I was pretty proud.

1- Roasted Chicken, no recipe. I put some bread dipping spices on it, along with olive oil. Baked it at 375 for about 80 minutes. It was still a tiny bit frozen. It was good all by itself with raw veggies and fruit.

2- Chicken Tortilla Soup, method by me. I was still sick and congested at this point, so I wanted something spicy to break up my sinuses. I used a couple of boxes of broth, cooked chicken, a can of generic tomatoes and chilis, frozen corn, onion, and carrots. Also, oregano, garlic powder, and fresh garlic, cumin, and chipotle chili powder. It turned out to be pretty good for something that was just thrown together. It was very spicy, so I think it helped.

3- Chicken Puffs made with homemade crescent dough with some rye flour. I ran out of all-purpose flour and didn’t have time to run out and get more. They turned out more hearty than usual. I used chicken, cream cheese, green onions, cheddar cheese, and a spicy 3 pepper cheese. I mixed all the filling ingredients up and rolled it up in the dough. Baked at 400 for about 20-25 minutes. http://gatherforbread.com/easy-no-knead-crescent-rolls/

4- Lettuce Wraps, based on a Damn Delicious recipe. http://damndelicious.net/2014/05/30/pf-changs-chicken-lettuce-wraps/

I’ve made these before and have no idea what mods I did this time, as I didn’t actually use the recipe. They turned out good.

5- Shrimp Albondigas from Classic Southwest Cooking by Carolyn Dille and Susan Belsinger. Section: Soups and Stews. 

Modifications: My Dad gave me this cookbook for my birthday! I was excited to find another way to use shrimp, but was not excited to food process them. They got really sticky and gross looking. I did not like touching them, but they ended up being tasty. They were put into a soup. I did add some garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the broth. I also used chicken broth instead of fish broth. We don’t eat fish, so I didn’t have any on hand.

6- Boller i karry/Meatballs with Curry from Scandinavia published by World Cuisine. Section: Main Dishes

Modifications: These looked so weird when I was mixing them. I thought for sure that they were all wrong and they weren’t going to stay together in the water. They were pretty gloopy looking. They did stay together though and they were pretty good. The curry sauce needed a lot more seasoning, so I added more curry powder, salt, and pepper. These were pretty good. I think I would double the recipe the next time.

It was a pretty good week for meals. Other than the pork chop, we had all good meals. I’m not sick any more and have a fancy new freezer cookbook to try. I also remembered to take pictures of all my dinners at least.

This week I have a few late nights, but have a few slow cooker or easy meals on my list, so it should go well. Since we had spaghetti tonight, we’ll have lasagna this week and we have leftover rice that I may try to make into fried rice.

It was fun getting back into using my cookbooks!

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I didn’t do much crafting this weekend, as we were partying it up! I did do a whole bunch of baking though. 🙂 I ended up trying six new recipes for the party. I’m going to make the party its own post, as I tried so many new things.

1- Hearty New England Dinner from Taste of Home Market Fresh Cookbook. 

Modifications: I cheated and left out the cabbage. The Husband doesn’t eat it and so we didn’t have any, and I’m not a huge fan of it cooked anyway. This was from the cabbage section though, so I may have to try another recipe, since I ignored that part. We never actual ate this as a meal. I had it as a snack the night it was made, but I started it late, so it wasn’t done until 10 pm.

Oh my gosh, this was delicious. I have actually made a pot roast that was too dry before, using a larger crock pot, but this was good. It had 2 cups of broth in it, which kept it very moist. It didn’t include potatoes, like my normal recipe. I fudged a recipe for onion soup mix, it was just basically beef bullion, onion powder, pepper, and garlic powder. The only other thing it called for was dried onions and I just used a little more fresh onion.

2- Shredded Beef Sandwiches, method by me.

Modifications: I added sautéed peppers and mushrooms and Gruyere cheese. I also made my own french bread with a recipe I think I’ve shared and now can’t find from Tasty Kitchen. Mmmm…. so good. This would be a good option to use up leftover pot roast for sure.

3- Asian Pork Chops, marinade by me, Cooked by the Husband. I have talked about these before, but I threw soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, and white pepper over the chops in a pan and the Husband threw them in the oven when he got home. I had also left carrots with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and he roasted them along with cooking the chops. Apparently they were both delicious.

4- Silver White Cupcakes from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook edited by Dorothy B. Marsh. Section: Our Best Cakes. 

Modifications: Used orange flavoring instead of vanilla. I frosted them with a basic orange buttercream. This was my family’s traditional Easter cupcake recipe and the cake I most often requested for my birthday. I was excited to have my own copy of it now. We found the cookbook in a bin at the thrift store and the lady at the checkout was very jealous.

This cookbook is fun because it shows the shift from the 50’s where things were just getting more “ready made” into the 60’s where it was suddenly cool to have store bought things. There are a few bizarre recipes in here and the cake section has a few pages that talk about how to jazz up store bought cakes. The bread section does it too. I keep looking through it for dinner ideas, but it’s such  big book, I think I get a little overwhelmed.

I was terrible at taking pictures of things this past week. I wasn’t home for some of the dinners and the ate all the other foods before I could get out a camera. I will try to do better this week and have the Husband take a picture of Tuesday’s dinner before he eats it.

Now, on to the party foods!